Colombia’s ex-President Uribe charged with witness tampering in polarizing legal battle

FILE - Former President Alvaro Uribe arrives for a press conference at the Democratic Center party headquarters, in Bogota, Colombia, June 29, 2022. On Friday, May 24, 2024, Uribe was formally charged with witness tampering and bribery for his efforts to discredit a political opponent who was digging into his family ties to right-wing paramilitary groups. (AP Photo/Lina Gasca, File)

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe was charged Friday in a long-running witness tampering investigation.

Uribe was formally charged with witness tampering and bribery for his efforts to discredit a political opponent who was digging into Uribe’s family ties to right-wing paramilitary groups.

The case dates back to 2012, when Uribe filed a complaint with the Supreme Court accusing a leftist lawmaker of slander. In 2018, the high court dismissed the investigation and opened a new probe into Uribe, who was a senator then, for fraud and manipulating testimony.

If convicted, Uribe faces up to 12 years in prison.

Uribe, who governed Colombia with strong U.S. support from 2002 to 2010, has denied any wrongdoing and accused Colombia’s chief prosecutor’s office of “political vengeance.”

Allegations of ties to drug cartels and paramilitaries have dogged Uribe since the early 1980s, when the civil aviation agency that he led was accused of giving air licenses to drug traffickers.

Joshua Goodman And Manuel Rueda, The Associated Press